Seahawks VQ1 listening notes

For anyone who has picked up our VQ1 LP recently, here’s some listening notes we made to accompany the album. Hope you are sitting comfortably. There are no emergency exits and we recommend playback through twin Ampeg stacks or headphones.

Seahawks ‘Vision Quest One – Spaceships Over Topanga Canyon’

(Static Caravan picture disc LP VAN223 2011)

In the summer of 2010 we entered the studio with the idea of going further than our usual extended jams. They were always intense but we wanted to somehow mix the audio and visual mediums.To search for new forms, new shapes, new colours….it was time for our first Vision Quest.

We embarked on the Vision Quest with the idea of travelling in time….back, forwards it didn’t matter.

As we tuned into the etheric transmissions we heard strangely familiar music obscured by clouds of silver mist, half heard phrases wrapped in a cloak of static, spectral voices just out of reach …there were sounds that seemed to be from California in the 1970’s…we plugged in our instruments, our filters, our feeds and feelers…we tried to focus, isolate the sounds, refine the data we were receiving…we typed ‘California 1970’s’ into the computer and saw the word ‘Topanga’…instantly we knew we were getting closer to the source….the sounds became more abstract…we typed ‘Topanga 1970’….spaceships all over the canyon, mass sightings….synthetic blasts of ray gun light melded with acoustic guitar modes and soft vocal tones….maybe the music was from Topanga Canyon itself or the neighbouring Laurel Canyon….there were rays of sunlight but also a creeping darkness….a sense of wonder but sometimes dread….there were visions of kaleidoscopic multicoloured auras, glistening spheres, faces, pyramids, waves….it was almost too much…the sound and vision pulsed like one giant strobe….we lost consciousness for periods of time but all the while the computer kept recording, absorbing, dissolving…this was a trip we’d never forget but also one we’d never remember…clearly.

Shaking and blinking we emerged from the studio into the daylight. It would be weeks before we could process all the information we received during our Vision Quest into some kind of coherent form but eventually we did it, we made an audio collage of our sound recordings and made pictures featuring some of the many images we perceived, these only give a glimpse of the wonder and madness we encountered but it’s a glimpse that we hope will inspire you to go on your own Vision Quest.

Immerse yourself in sound, bathe in light, go deep.

Here are some listening notes that recall places we visited and sensations we experienced whilst making this record.

Side A

1. Malibu Melts (0.00-3.15) A blast of pure aqua sound opens the minds eye and prepares us for the smooth flow of rhythmic and tropical ether vibes.

2. Minds of Men…Hearts of Space (3.15-8.39) A shamanistic invocation of swarm guitars and primal drums, we are deep within the Topanga mindset. Visions of ancient peoples merge with Californian acoustic tones and voice.

3. Spaceships Over Topanga (8.39-12.24) Deep synth scene preceded by the ‘Sound of Q’ lead into kaleidoscopic arpeggiations and choral clouds as alien crafts journey overhead into the mystic.

4. Zodiac FM (12.24-14.50) A brief return to Earth time as blistering heat waves envelop the mind in transcendent light.

5. Waterfall Sunset (14.50-16.05) The opening is manifest, the ascension has begun.

Side B

1. Never Sea Land (0.00-5.59) As the ship sails across astral oceans, deep space ripples with expectant becoming.

4. Mother Father Sister Brother (11.06-15.26) Once more on terra firma, the warm winds blow whilst the soft mother tones call us home.

5. Goodnight Earth (15.26-17.46) Golden webs of pure light envelop us in their healing embrace, the fleece has been found hidden under a mushroom shaped rock, nestled within the Topanga Boundary.

Music Production: All pieces were composed (received), arranged and recorded by Seahawks.

Instrumentation: Seahawks play all instruments other than those channelled via the Universal Energy.

Additional notes:

‘How to enter another dimension from the safety of your armchair’.

We are now living in an unprecedented time where we can travel vast distances, to other solar systems, other galaxies without ever having to leave the comfort of our own homes.

Of course mystics have for many moons explored the cosmos with the mind, but now with the internet and sophisticated audio and visual equipment available to a large % of the worlds population, many more can find ways to explore. Put together this technological revolution with the spiritual one that to many minds will reach it’s zenith in 2012 and this must be the perfect time to embark on a ‘Vision Quest’.

(This music is intended to provide a gateway, a portal to an alternative reality, a way to travel in an environmentally sound way whilst expanding consciousness and encouraging spiritual growth.)

Try this: While playing this record, turn out all light sources in the room, light a candle and close your eyes. Let the flickering flame shine through your eyelids creating diffuse shapes that lead you ever deeper into the unknown. You have begun your own ‘Vision Quest’.